1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices that are used to cool liquids. More specifically, the present invention relates to devices used to rapidly cool beverages. More specifically, the present invention relates in part to beverages that are served chilled but generally do not have ice added to them including but not limited to alcoholic beverages such as beer. More generally, the present invention relates to electrical energy saving devices used to cool beverages. More generally, the present invention relates to the efficient storage of foodstuffs.
2. Description of Related Art
The current art contains numerous devices meant to cool liquids. They include for the most part: complex motor driven devices and/or devices that use a coolant and a heat exchange system. The prior art also includes mechanically similar devices that are used to dry washed lettuce leaves, commonly referred to as a “salad spinners” or related devices.
A manually operated device used to cool beverage containers in an ice chest is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,243 to Woods et al. wherein a hand crank operated belt driven system rotates beverage cans on a bed of ice. U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,368 to Ordoukhanian describes a device for rotating a single beverage container inside of an ice chest at an angle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,665 to Micallef describes a motorized wine chiller wherein a wine bottle is rotated inside an open container of ice and water. A manual spinning means with a plunger and a helical post is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,309 to Mulhauser et al that claims use for drying rinsed foods by centrifugation. U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,751 to Gjersvik is one of many to disclose a hand crank for rotating a beverage container inside a cooling chamber containing a chilled liquid and requiring vigorous arm/hand motion for an extended period; the device to Gjersvik requires an additional separate chamber for containing ice that is in communication with the cooling liquid.
There does not exist, however, the present invention which is a device that chills a single beverage container of any type very quickly using a cooling means including in part a chilled liquid whereby a user manually operates a plunger-post spinning means that very rapidly rotates a beverage container immersed in the chilled liquid while enclosed inside a single compact cooling chamber of a suitable shape and size for use with the desired beverage container.